The Origin of Ideas – The Eye Complex – Beyond Looking Series

The Eye Complex is the fourth and final installment/statement in what I consider to be a series of pieces; We Create Ourselves, Grab Your Eyes and L.S.P. being the others. This series Beyond Looking is an autobiographical, physical expression of my journey into representational painting, not merely in terms of the practicalities of creating such paintings, but the underpinning ideas and understanding that come from thinking deeply about what representation means to me. These paintings therefore are manifestations and in a way summations of my investigations. Grab Your Eyes was the first painting of mine to delve into the world of realism and figuration. L.S.P. is more of a connective piece that acts like a bridge between Grab Your Eyes and The Eye Complex. We Create Ourselves is a metaphor for the space that precedes ideas and the reflective nature of the mind.

The Eye Complex – Lee Gascoyne 2013 – Click on the image to see more detailed images.

The title The Eye Complex, as with many of my titles, has a multiple meaning. One being relatively literal; that the relationships between the eye, the objects seen and the resultant ‘interpretation’ within the mind are complex. Another meaning relates ‘Eye’ to the ‘I’ of the Self and all the complexity of speculation that follows its investigation. The word ‘Complex’ is also suggestive of a system of different things that are linked in a complicated way, as well as a group of similar buildings on the same site (repeated solidity within a given space). The Eye Complex seeks a visual and mental free association with how the eye and mind interact to create depth and solidity in 2 dimensions, within the medium of paint. In comparison to Grab Your Eyes, The Eye Complex is more ‘loose’ and is intentionally ‘incomplete’. It is in fact complete and very much ‘finished’ in relation to what I want to express within the confines of this series.